Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by the occurrence of seizures, although seizures may also occur in persons who do not have epilepsy. Seizures are typically attributable to abnormal electrical activity of a group of brain cells. A seizure may occur when the electrical activity of certain regions of the brain, or even the entire brain, becomes abnormally synchronized. The onset of a seizure may be debilitating. For example, the onset of a seizure may result in involuntary changes in body movement, body function, sensation, awareness or behavior (e.g., an altered mental state). In some cases, each seizure may cause some damage to the brain, which may result in progressive loss of brain function over time.
Attempts to manage seizures have included the delivery of electrical stimulation to regions of the brain and/or the delivery of drugs either orally or infused directly into regions of the brain. In electrical stimulation systems, a medical lead is implanted within a patient and coupled to an external or implanted electrical stimulator. The target stimulation site within the brain or elsewhere may differ between patients, and may depend upon the type of seizures being treated by the electrical stimulation system. In some therapy systems, electrical stimulation is continuously delivered to the brain. In other systems, the delivery of electrical stimulation is triggered by the detection or prediction of some event, such as the detection of a seizure by electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors within the brain.
In automatic drug delivery systems, a catheter is implanted within a patient and coupled to an external or implanted fluid delivery device. The fluid delivery device may deliver a bolus of an anti-seizure drug into the blood stream or into a region of the brain of the patient at regular intervals, upon the detection or prediction of some event, such as the detection of a seizure by EEG sensors implanted within the brain, or at the direction of the patient or clinician.